The Final Plague

The Final Plague

Jan 28, 2012 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Bo

Each year, when we read the Exodus story and again when we encounter it at the Passover seder, we are confronted with a serious moral question. We must ask ourselves how we feel about the nature of the collective punishment of the Egyptians.

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Lighting the Darkness

Lighting the Darkness

Jan 11, 2008 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Bo

It’s difficult not to notice darkness at this time of year; so many of us set out for work in the dark and leave our places of business long after the sun has set.

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Out of the Darkness, into the Light

Out of the Darkness, into the Light

Jan 3, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bo

As Parashat Bo opens, the intransigence of Pharaoh increases as well as the determination of God, Moses, and Aaron.

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Realpolitik and the Exodus

Realpolitik and the Exodus

Jan 23, 2010 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Bo

This devar Torah is about religion, politics, and war. We are a country currently fighting two foreign wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) and a war on terror at home and abroad. My intention is not to tilt Republican or Democrat; rather, the point of these words of Torah is to reflect on what it means to be Jewish under these circumstances. Or to ask in the classic rabbinic formulation: what can this week’s Torah portion teach us?

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Discovering Love at Dawn

Discovering Love at Dawn

Jan 15, 2016 By Benjamin Resnick | Commentary | Bo

The photograph above—my last before becoming a parent—was taken early in the morning on January 7, 2015, the coldest day of a very young year. In my imagination, Jonah was born just after, as the sun was rising over the city. In reality, he was not. He was born at 11:11a.m., when the sun was already high in the sky. But, like the Doe of the Morning, I remember him coming at dawn.

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The Power of Paradox for the Religious Life

The Power of Paradox for the Religious Life

Jan 15, 2016 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Bo

There are a few texts that have helped me get through dark and difficult periods in my religious life, first amongst them being several paragraphs by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik buried in a footnote in his essay Halakhic Man. At another stage of my life long since gone, I yearned for a simple faith in God. I yearned for a transcendent framework that might help me feel closer to a God that too many times felt too far away. I had believed that a sense of wholeness and integration were possible goals for the religious life.

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Redemption in Place and Time

Redemption in Place and Time

Jan 16, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bo

In his very first comment on Torah, Rashi, the prolific medieval commentator, made this week’s parashah famous for exegetic eternity.

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Redemption Through Law

Redemption Through Law

Jan 28, 2012 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Bo

In the midst of the tumult of the Exodus—while the plagues are still falling like locusts upon Egypt; after the deep darkness that plunged the land back into primal chaos; as the Israelite slaves desperately and, it must be admitted, somewhat gleefully despoil their former masters just after the ominous warning has been issued of the impending death of Egypt’s firstborn—the Torah pauses in its breathless narrative as if for a commercial break, a word from our Sponsor.

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